Coachella Is Staying In Indio, Thanks To Paul Tollett’s Threat

Paul Tollett, president of the festival promoter Goldenvoice (responsible for putting on Coachella), knows the value of a well-placed threat. After an Indio City Council member proposed a 5-to-10% admission tax for events that admit more than 2,500 people (which would affect Coachella because, hello, 75,000-person indie music bacchanal), Tollett announced to the press that he’d soon be moving Coachella out of Indio and toward a more cost-friendly locale.

But the City Council member, Sam Torres, ended up backing down and suspending the ballot initiative for the tax. According to NBC4, Torres “[doesn’t] take a threat from Paul Tollett lightly.” And so we have another year of big bands playing to huge crowds in the desert. [The Daily Swarm]